


A Spiny Mammal of the Subfamily Tomlinson

by rsadelle



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Canon Relationships, Friendship, Gen, Hedgehogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 18:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16938615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/pseuds/rsadelle
Summary: "You brought a hedgehog you named after a member of your last band," Nick says, trying to take it all in."It's still my band," Harry says. "And no. This is Louis. He needs some clothes, and you were closer than either of our places."Or: Nick makes friends with a popstar who is sometimes a hedgehog.





	A Spiny Mammal of the Subfamily Tomlinson

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the mods for running this fest! I had lots of fun writing this.
> 
> Don't try to fit this into a specific timeline; it won't work.

Nick opens the door to Harry and returns the one-armed hug Harry offers him, the dogs dancing around their feet. "Was I expecting you? There's nothing in my phone."

"No," Harry says, "but we lost track of time and you were closer." He pulls a hedgehog out of his pocket.

This is possibly the most confused Nick has ever been by anything Harry has ever done. "You brought a hedgehog."

"Louis," Harry says with a nod.

"You brought a hedgehog you named after a member of your last band," Nick says, trying to take it all in.

"It's still my band," Harry says. "And no. This is Louis. He needs some clothes, and you were closer than either of our places." He walks past Nick and up the stairs.

Nick and the dogs trail him up to Nick's room. "I don't have clothes sized for hedgehogs." Sometimes there's nothing to do when people do inexplicable things but go along with them.

"I told you," Harry says. "It's Louis." Harry takes his usual liberties with Nick's closet and deposits a pair of joggers, a t-shirt, and the hedgehog onto Nick's bed.

The hedgehog, Nick has to admit, does have quite a lot of personality for a very small animal that can't speak; he's positive it's glaring at them in a way he's relatively sure a hedgehog shouldn't be able to.

"I've seen you naked before," Harry says.

The hedgehog keeps glaring.

Harry sighs, and grabs Nick's arm to turn them both around.

"Are we preserving the modesty of a hedgehog?" Nick asks.

No one answers that, but Louis Tomlinson's voice comes from behind them snapping out, "Phone."

Harry turns around and pulls a phone out of his pocket.

Nick turns around and gapes. Louis Tomlinson is in his bedroom wearing his clothes and the hedgehog is nowhere to be seen.

"I swear to God, Harry," Louis says, snatching the phone out of Harry's hand, "if you made me late to talk to Freddie."

Harry says, "We'll be downstairs," and pulls Nick out the door, waiting until the dogs are with them before closing the door.

"Your hedgehog was Louis," Nick says.

Harry flashes him a grin. "I told you."

"I need a drink." Nick goes straight into the kitchen and opens a bottle of wine. He tells Harry, "You'll have to get your own bottle. I need all of this one," but pours two glasses. "Louis was a hedgehog."

"Yeah, he does that sometimes."

"Oh my God." Nick gulps down half his glass of wine. "Tell me you were not calmer than me when you found out."

Harry just shrugs apologetically.

"Louis is sometimes a hedgehog," Nick says, as if saying it again will make it make any more sense. "I guess that explains why he can be so prickly."

Harry laughs with his whole face. "I dare you to say that to his face."

"Maybe I will." Nick finishes his wine and refills his glass. "He's a hedgehog sometimes."

"Yep," Harry says.

Nick shakes his head. "A hedgehog."

By the time Louis comes down the stairs, Harry is nearly finished with his first glass of wine and Nick has opened a second bottle.

"How's Freddie?" Harry asks.

"Brilliant," Louis says, "no thanks to you."

"I would never have let you be late," Harry says with a put-upon sort of defensiveness.

"You," Nick says, gesturing with his recently refilled wine glass, "are a hedgehog sometimes. Now I know why you can be so prickly."

Louis gives him a withering look. "Yeah, I've never heard that one before."

Harry unhelpfully breaks into laughter.

Louis gives them both an affronted look and drops the phone he's holding onto the coffee table in front of Harry. Only then does Nick realize it must be his own phone because Harry's got both of his out already.

Nick is looking right at Louis, and he's still not sure exactly how it happens that one moment Louis is standing there in Nick's joggers and t-shirt, and the next moment the clothes are in a pile on the floor that a hedgehog is nosing its way out of. The hedgehog gives them both the same affronted look Louis did and pointedly curls up into a ball.

"A hedgehog," Nick says, edging on hysterical. "There is not enough wine in the world."

Harry tsks at him and carefully scoops up Louis the hedgehog, cradling him in his hands until he can sit back and put Louis in his lap. "Hush, you're upsetting him. It's alright, Boo." His hands flutter around the hedgehog. Louis. Who is a hedgehog.

"Should we find a small dish and give him some wine?" Nick asks.

The fluttering of Harry's hands take on an even more protective air. "We're not giving him wine while he's like this." He peers down at Louis, who is still curled into a spiky ball. "If he wants some wine, he can be human again."

Nick joins Harry in looking at Louis. Who remains a hedgehog.

Nick turns his attention back to his phone. "Curry?"

"Yeah," Harry says. "Order some extra. He might decide he's hungry." He keeps one hand curved protectively over Louis while he scrolls through his phone with the other. Nick orders curries and puts on the telly.

Louis uncurls by the time Nick answers the door to get the food, and by the time Nick's halfway through his dinner, Louis is nosing at the edge of Harry's plate.

Harry lifts the plate up above Louis's head. "If you want some, you can change back and have your own plate."

Louis makes a series of noises that must be what hedgehogs sound like. Nick watches in fascination as he and Harry seem to have a conversation without words that ends with Harry taking Louis and his borrowed clothes into the downstairs loo.

Harry comes back alone, and Louis follows a minute later dressed in Nick's clothes again.

"Not a word," Louis says when Nick opens his mouth.

"I was only going to offer you a glass of wine," Nick lies. He can't restrain his laugh at the look on Louis's face. "Water?"

"Bring me one too, please," Harry requests.

When Nick brings back waters, including one for himself, Louis has settled onto the sofa on the other side of Harry, close enough that their thighs touch and it's taking a truly amazing amount of coordination for them to keep from knocking elbows.

"You're staring," Louis points out.

Nick sits down. "Never seen a hedgehog in human form before."

"Don't go on about it," Louis mutters.

Harry puts his arm around Louis's shoulders. "He's surprised, that's all." He presses a kiss to the top of Louis's head.

"Very surprised," Nick says. "I genuinely thought I knew the limit of strange popstar behavior. Finding out I was wrong was a bit of a shock. You do make for an charming little hedgehog."

"You had to bring me here," Louis says to Harry. Despite the grumbling, he doesn't move away from Harry.

Harry kisses the top of Louis's head again. "It was closest. I couldn't let you miss talking to Freddie."

Louis grumbles a bit - "You could have gone home earlier." - but subsides into Harry's side and focuses on his curry.

Nick falls asleep on the sofa, which is both embarrassing and impolite, and wakes up in the morning to an empty house, a sitting room that's been tidied with the clothes Louis was wearing folded into a neat stack, and the dogs whining to go out.

The whole evening feels a bit like a dream, but there's leftover curry in the fridge and a pair of empty wine glasses in the sink. And Louis Tomlinson is sometimes a hedgehog. Nick's life is utterly mad.

*

Harry comes back two weeks later. Well, Harry comes back a few other times and they go out a few times. But Harry comes back, planned this time, two weeks later, and says, "I have something for you."

"Ooh, a present." Nick shuts the door behind Harry.

"Hold out your hands."

Nick does, and Harry reaches into his pocket, brings out a hedgehog, and gently drops it into Nick's hands.

Nick stares at it. It stares back, and then shuffles around to glare at Harry.

"Well," Nick says, "this is a surprise."

"Louis's been annoying me all day." Harry drops the bag he was carrying and wanders farther into Nick's house. "You entertain him."

Nick peers down at the hedgehog, at Louis, who lets out what must be the sound of an angry hedgehog. But he's still a hedgehog and he hasn't curled into a ball. Nick takes him through to the sitting room and puts him in his lap when he sits down.

"Right," he says. "Telly?" He turns on the telly and takes out his phone. He googles _how to play with your hedgehog_ with his phone held above Louis's head.

"Can we dress him in things?" Nick calls to Harry. "Does he have cute little hedgehog outfits?"

"He's never let me," Harry calls back from the kitchen. "Don't like your chances."

"Well that's a pity," Nick says to Louis. "I'd love to dress you up. In either form, really. You just say the word."

Harry comes through with a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. "I ordered pizza."

"Thanks, love." Nick clicks a link and scrolls through suggestions for games to play with a hedgehog. "This says you can play footie with hedgehogs." He looks down at Louis. "Too bad I don't have a football for you to play with."

Louis makes an affronted noise.

"Well, I don't know how to entertain a hedgehog," Nick says, "and you've never been particularly entertained by me as a human."

Louis makes a grumbly kind of noise and makes his way up Nick's thigh. Then he tries to climb up his shirt.

Nick peers down at Louis. "What? What are you doing?" He looks at Harry. "What is he doing?"

Harry sighs. "Pick him up. Tuck him under your shirt."

"You want me to put a hedgehog under my shirt."

Harry snickers. "I know it sounds mad. He wants a cuddle. On your chest, like, here." Harry touches his own chest just below his collarbone.

Nick saves his shirt from any hedgehog-related mishaps by lifting Louis up in one hand. He leans back against the couch so Louis won't fall when Nick tucks him into his shirt.

Louis settles down against Nick's chest, feet a little prickly but fur on the underside of his belly soft. Nick puts his hand over the bump of Louis under his shirt. "He genuinely wants a cuddle? From me?"

"He's not getting one from me right now," Harry says.

"Do you need a cuddle?" Nick asks Louis, and trying not to think too hard about the fact that he's talking to a hedgehog. He pats Louis a little, still not really sure what you're supposed to do with hedgehogs. "You just stay right there and we'll keep you safe from the dogs and terrible telly. What are we watching?"

"Dunno, really." Harry tips his head to one side. "You have the remote."

Nick tosses the remote to Harry with his phone tucked between his fingers so he doesn't have to move the hand holding Louis to him. He keeps scrolling through things you can do with a hedgehog even though it doesn't look like he needs them at the moment and lets Harry find them something to watch.

Louis rouses when the doorbell goes for the pizza, and Harry gets up to pay for it.

"He'll probably want to eat," Harry says. "His clothes are in my bag."

Nick peers down at the hedgehog still under his shirt. "Do you want to eat?"

Louis pokes his head out of Nick's shirt in a way that seems agreeable, so Nick cups a hand under him and stands up. He passes Harry in the hall, and scoops up the bag Harry brought. He takes the whole thing and Louis into the downstairs loo and leaves them there, both bag and Louis on the floor. He shuts the door behind him.

Harry didn't bother with plates and is eating a piece of pizza off of a serviette.

"Classy." Nick's taking the piss, but he also grins at Harry; he likes that Harry is so comfortable in his house, even if it's not the same space he spent so much time in with Nick when they were first becoming friends. "Do I need to get a glass for your hedgehog?"

"He hates wine."

Nick doesn't know anyone who hates wine. "Beer? I might have some in."

Harry shrugs. "Ask him what he wants. He can speak for himself if he's not going to stay a hedgehog."

Louis wanders in then, in trackies, a t-shirt, and socks, with his phone in his hand. "Don't get stroppy."

Harry opens his mouth to show off a mouthful of half-chewed pizza. Nick finds it gross, but it doesn't seem to faze Louis.

"Drinks?" Nick asks.

"Water," Louis says.

Nick gets him a bottle of water from the fridge and comes back to find that the only space Harry and Louis have left open on the sofa is between them. Nick takes it; he could sit somewhere else, but that's where the pizza is.

They eat pizza without making more of a mess than the dogs can joyfully clean up.

"What do hedgehogs eat anyway?" Nick wonders out loud.

Louis's whole face wrinkles up. "Don't much like eating as a hedgehog. Hedgehog food is gross."

"You can feed them, like, cat food and vegetables," Harry says. "Louis hates vegetables."

"Fuck off," Louis says. "The vegetables are better than the cat food." He takes another slice of pizza. "But I like human food better."

"What do you like as a hedgehog?" Nick asks. "Other than a bit of a cuddle."

Louis shrugs. "Usually just run around a bit until I get tired." He pauses. "The cuddle was more for you."

Nick blinks at him and looks to Harry, who just shrugs. "For me?"

"I don't, like, dislike you," Louis says. "Just don't know you that well, do I?" He bites firmly into his slice of pizza.

Nick blinks at him again. "Guess we're changing that, then."

Louis just focuses on his pizza. Harry gives Nick a thumbs-up.

Right, Nick is making friends with a popstar who is sometimes a hedgehog. Well, he was the second-longest running presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. He can do this.

"You know," Nick says, "I really would dress you any time you want."

"You're not putting me in tiny hedgehog outfits."

"You're crushing my dreams, Louis Tomlinson."

The corners of Louis's mouth twitch upwards. "You'll have to live with it, Nicholas Grimshaw."

"It's nice that you're getting along," Harry says. It makes both of them laugh, which is dead nice.

It's a dead nice evening on the whole, and at the end of it, Harry, already mostly asleep on Nick's sofa, mumbles, "Can we stay here?"

Nick ruffles his hair. "Course you can popstar."

Harry smiles sleepily at him. "Good. Come on, Boo. Nick's bed is nice."

Two popstars in his bed was not what Nick was expecting out of his evening, but it looks like that's what he's getting. Or, more accurately, he finds after he's settled the dogs in and finished his nightly skincare ritual, one normal popstar and one popstar who's choosing to be a hedgehog.

Harry is completely unconscious, while Louis looks, as much as is possible for a hedgehog, nervous.

Nick yawns and gets into bed with them. "Didn't have to do that, you know. We would have made room for you." Nick puts his phone down on the nightstand and turns out the light. "You can come have a bit of a cuddle if you like."

It's quiet and still for long enough that Nick's nearly asleep when there's the rustle of sheets and then a hedgehog climbs onto him and curls up on his chest. Nick sleepily tugs the sheets up over Louis so he can put his hand over him without risking injury. "Night Louis."

*

Nick is prepared the next time Harry comes over with a hedgehog peering over the edge of his pocket. Nick hugs Harry and says, "I've got a surprise for you," to Louis.

He waves Harry and Louis into the lounge, takes the dogs out, and gets Louis's surprise out of the cupboard. He keeps it behind his back until he scoops Louis out of Harry's lap one-handed and sets him down on the floor.

"This is just for you." Nick brings the football out from behind his back and sets it down in front of Louis. It's a toy one, better sized for a hedgehog.

Louis makes what Nick takes as a happy noise and nudges at the ball with his nose. It's adorable. It's _adorable_.

Nick pulls out his phone and gets down on the floor with him to get the best angle. "It's too bad I can't put this on Instagram."

Louis pushes the ball in his direction, and gets close enough that Nick has to move his phone out of the way.

"I'm not going to," he says.

"He won't," Harry says. "He never puts me up unless I say he can."

"Promise." Nick puts his phone down anyway - on the sofa where it's out of Louis's reach - and pushes the ball back toward Louis.

Louis takes charge of the ball, chasing after it around the lounge while Nick and Harry catch up. Nick can't resist continuing to take photos and video, but he doesn't, in his estimation, overdo it. Just enough for him to have to watch and look at later. Next time he's feeling a bit emo, this is what he's going to pull up on his phone to get him out of it.

Louis eventually pushes the ball into a corner and comes over to try to climb up onto Nick.

Nick scoops him up. "Is it time for a cuddle?"

Louis settles down into his hands.

"I've got another surprise for you." Nick hands Louis over to Harry. He lets the dogs back inside, and they race up the stairs to his room behind him.

The look on Harry's face when Nick comes back wearing a hoodie says he's laughing at him.

Nick ignores it and scoops up Louis. He settles onto the sofa with his legs kicked up on it so he'll be comfortable for a while. "I had this altered," he tells Louis. "The bottom of the pocket is sewn up a bit so you won't fall out." He carefully tucks Louis into the kangaroo pocket. "There you go, all cozy."

Harry puts his hand on Nick's ankle. "Thanks, for being nice to him."

Nick shrugs one shoulder. "Aw, he's a bit of alright, isn't he?"

Harry shakes Nick's ankle, smiling. "So are you."

They fall into companionable silence, which turns into a nap for all of them - Harry first, then the dogs, then Nick.

Nick wakes up because there's a hedgehog making noises at him and trying to squirm out of his pocket. He scrubs his hands over his face before he helps Louis out of his pocket.

"Alright, love. You ready for human clothes and some food?"

Harry didn't bring a bag with him, so Nick takes Louis up to his room and leaves him there with a pair of joggers and a t-shirt.

Harry's still asleep, but the dogs are up, so Nick lets them out into the garden while he hydrates and considers their options.

Nick knows Louis has made it downstairs when he hears Harry muttering in the lounge and Louis's voice saying, "Shh, 's alright, love," which makes sense when Louis comes into the kitchen with a phone Harry must have had in one of his pockets.

"I should probably offer you something better," Nick says, "but I could really go for McDonald's."

Nick is not used to seeing the smile on Louis's face directed at him. "I love McDonald's. I think I've been to McDonald's in every country we've been to."

"My secret," Nick says, "is to always order two apple pies. They're so hot they keep everything warm."

"Better get four," Louis says. "We're going to have at least two bags of food."

They lean against the counter together and put together a Deliveroo order of for the two of them and Harry.

Once they finish their order, Louis kicks Nick's ankle gently. "You got me a football. Nice of you, even if it isn't regulation."

Nick holds up one finger in a gesture to Louis to wait, then grabs the answer to that out of a cupboard.

Louis takes the regulation football from him with a look bordering on confusion. "You bought two footballs."

"Wouldn't want you to get bored while you're here," Nick says. "That one's a bit big for a hedgehog."

Louis tucks the ball under his arm and gives Nick a hug with his free arm. "Thanks."

"Well we're proper mates now." Nick keeps his arm around Louis; he doesn't object to a bit of a cuddle with a friend if Louis doesn't.

"I'll have to bring my kit next time," Louis says. "Have a proper kickabout in your garden."

"Oh, God," Nick says half seriously. "That's going to be horribly embarrassing for me."

Louis laughs, and Nick can't help grinning at him, and they're both doing that when Harry wanders into the kitchen.

A slow smile blooms over Harry's face. "It's so nice that you're getting along." He half walks, half stumbles across the kitchen to fetch up against them with one arm around each of them, pulling them into a group hug that doesn't cause anyone to fall over largely due to the counter behind Nick and Louis.

"Yeah, alright. You don't need to make such a big deal about it." Despite his words, there's a decidedly pleased look on Louis's face, and he does nothing to try to get out of the hug.

For his part, Nick wraps his free arm around Harry's shoulders and leans into it. "I want you to remember that when you see what we ordered for dinner."

Louis bursts into laughter. It's a good sound, and so is Harry's drawn-out, "Hey."

Nick reminds him, "It was your idea for us to spend time together," and steps out of the hug to take care of drinks.

*

Louis doesn't bring his kit next time. Instead, he shows up at Nick's door late on a lazy Saturday afternoon in one of his innumerable sets of joggers and hoodies with dark circles under his eyes.

"Y'alright?" Nick asks. "You look tired."

"Exhausted," Louis says. "Got in from LA this morning. Couldn't sleep. Eleanor's visiting friends. No one to give me a cuddle."

He hands his phone over to Nick, who takes it automatically, and then Nick has a lethargic hedgehog and a pile of clothes in his entryway instead of a tired popstar.

Nick tucks Louis's phone into his pocket and picks Louis up. "Alright, love, let's have a nice cuddle in the sun."

He'd been out in the garden with the dogs anyway, so he takes Louis out there and settles back onto his lounger. It's too warm for a hoodie, so he tucks Louis against his chest under his shirt.

He can tell when Louis falls asleep, which is a bit odd, but not unpleasant, and he goes back to his glass of wine and his phone.

A very loud alarm from Louis's phone, still in Nick's pocket, makes him jump and nearly dislodge them both from the lounger.

Nick takes the phone out of his pocket and looks at the notification on the screen. Then he nudges at Louis.

"Wake up, love. Your alarm's going. Says Freddie in ten minutes." Nick silences the phone.

Louis makes a grumbly noise as he wakes up.

Nick scoops him up and takes him into the house where he goes through the now familiar ritual of leaving Louis, his clothes, and his phone in the downstairs loo, then sits on the sofa with his own phone.

Louis comes out and settles onto the other end of the sofa with his phone already held up, not seeming to care that Nick is there too. "Alright, lad?"

"Hi Dad!"

There are still dark circles under Louis's eyes, but he lights up when he's FaceTiming Freddie.

The dogs nose up to Louis, and Freddie asks, "Who's that?"

"These are my friend Nick's dogs." Louis twists the phone toward the dogs. "This one is Pig, and this one is Stinky Blob."

"Stinky Blob!"

Louis says, "It's a funny name for a dog, innit?" just as Nick gets up and heads to the kitchen to figure out their tea and leave him to his conversation.

He can't hear Louis's conversation from there, just the sound of his voice occasionally.

It's not more than half an hour later that Louis comes into the kitchen with a silent phone, the dogs trailing him.

"Pasta for our tea?" Nick asks.

Louis looks at the boiling water and sauce on the stove. "Don't seem to have much of a choice, do I?"

"Not too late to Deliveroo you some McDonald's."

"Nah, just taking the piss." Louis comes over and leans against Nick's side. "Thanks."

Nick puts his arm around Louis's shoulders. "Y'alright?"

Louis shrugs. "It's hard to leave him. He's old enough that we can, like, talk when we FaceTime now, but it's not the same."

Nick has a million questions about Louis's life that he keeps to himself. He settles for squeezing Louis's shoulders.

They have dinner on the sofa, both of them practiced at keeping the dogs away from their plates. Nick puts on an episode of MasterChef.

Watching MasterChef with Louis, even a tired Louis, is surprisingly fun. He makes hilarious faces at the food but says nice things about how hard the contestants are trying. They make it through two and a half episodes before Louis's comments start dropping off and his yawns pick up.

"Think you can sleep now?" Nick asks.

"Yeah, yeah," Louis says between a pair of yawns. "Can I stay here?"

"Course you can," Nick says. "Love having friends stay the night. Right fan of the sleepover am I."

Louis says, "Cheers," and heads up the stairs.

Nick gets the dogs settled for the night, then goes upstairs. The light in his bedroom is on, so it's less of a surprise than it might be to find Louis - human, not hedgehog - half asleep in his bed.

Nick texts Harry, _There's a fit popstar in my bed._

He goes through his nightly routine, turns out the lights, and gets into bed with Louis before he checks his phone again.

"Too bright," Louis mumbles into his pillow.

Nick tilts his phone away from Louis. There's a text from Harry that says, _Tell Louis I love him!_ And a second that says, _And you too of course!_

"Harry sends his love," Nick tells Louis.

Louis makes an acknowledging noise into his pillow.

Nick chuckles and checks his messages one last time before putting his phone down on the nightstand. "Night, love."

Louis makes another grumbly noise that could be a goodnight. It's just as cute as his grumbly hedgehog noises.

*

Louis does bring his kit the next time. He also brings Liam.

"Hello," Nick says. Liam's hug isn't as good as Louis's, but Nick accepts it easily and invites them in.

Louis's is a real hug, and he pulls away with a smile. "We're having a kickabout in your garden. I brought Liam so you don't have to embarrass yourself horribly."

Nick protests half-heartedly. "I can be laddy."

Liam is too polite to laugh at him; Louis isn't.

"Sure, mate." Louis claps Nick on the back. "You can bring a drink and watch." He grabs the football from the cupboard and takes Liam and the dogs outside.

Nick, laughing, gets himself a beer and follows them out. He ostentatiously positions a lounger so he has a good view of Liam and Louis kicking the ball back and forth. He knows they notice him because Louis laughs at him. Liam takes advantage of the distraction and steals the ball away from him, which causes Louis to run after him yelling.

Nick is very glad to not be involved in that as anything other than a spectator.

He's even happier twenty minutes later when they take a break to hydrate and Liam strips his shirt off while he's at it. Nick whistles at him.

Liam ducks his head with a slightly bashful chuckle.

"Own it, lad," Louis advises.

Liam whips his shirt at Louis, then strikes a pose while he drinks from his water bottle.

Nick tips his sunglasses down to get a better view. "Nice." He looks at Louis. "Any chance of getting a double show?"

Louis flips him off.

Nick laughs and pushes his sunglasses back up. It's still a good show when they run around his back garden.

Liam gives up first, flopping down onto one of the other loungers with his bottle of water.

Louis stands over him, hip cocked, football tucked under his arm. "Liam." He drags the vowels out.

Liam waves a hand at him. "Nope. Sorry, mate. You've worn me out."

Louis heaves a dramatic sigh and turns his attention to Nick.

"I thought you brought him so I didn't have to embarrass myself."

Louis heaves another dramatic sigh and drops the ball. "Then I want to play with the other football."

Nick raises his eyebrows, then gets up. "You coming?" he asks Liam.

Liam shakes his head under the arm he has over his eyes. "I'm never moving again."

Nick laughs and leaves the dogs outside with him. As soon as he's inside with the door closed, he has a hedgehog and a pile of Louis's kit on his floor.

"You make a right mess every time you do that," Nick says. He leaves Louis to clamber his way out of it while he gets the hedgehog-sized football.

Nick sits on the floor with Louis, although for the most part he doesn't do anything other than watch Louis push the ball around. Occasionally he'll reach out and push it at Louis, but Louis as a hedgehog is pretty self-sufficient.

The door opens slowly, just a bit, and Liam pokes his head in. "Can I bring the dogs in?"

Louis abandons the ball and runs over to Nick.

The dogs aren't much of a threat to anything, much less something that can fight back as well as a hedgehog, but Nick picks him up so he'll be safe. "Yeah, sure."

Liam comes in with the dogs, who immediately rush over to Nick. Nick holds Louis to his chest with one hand and pets the dogs with the other, getting them to calm down enough that he can let them sniff at Louis without being worried about anything going terribly wrong.

Liam sits down next to him and reaches out to gently rub at Louis's face. The dogs follow his interest and nose in toward Louis curiously.

"Alright," Nick says. "Be gentle, or else he'll hurt you." He shares a grin with Liam while Louis makes an irritated noise.

The dogs nose at Louis for a few minutes, moving in cautiously and then ducking back, sniffing him while they decide what to think about it.

When Louis doesn't do anything exciting, the dogs lose interest. Pig is first, and she crosses the lounge to flop down on the dog bed. Stinky follows her a minute later.

Once they're settled, Louis pushes against Nick's hands until he puts him down on the floor. He runs across the floor and slows down as he approaches the dogs.

Pig lifts her head and watches Louis climb his way onto the dog bed. It's almost too big for him. Nick pulls out his phone to film the way he struggles to climb up on it and then cross the soft surface of it to settle down between the dogs.

"Babies," Nick croons, "you made a new friend."

He can't tell if the look Louis is giving him is amused or mocking.

Nick stops filming, but takes a few pictures because he needs to preserve this moment.

He's almost forgotten about Liam until he turns around and sees him still sitting on the floor.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the view," Nick says, because Liam is well fit and there's sweat attractively glistening on his still-bare chest, "but do you want a shower?"

Liam brightens up. "Yeah, mate. Thanks."

After Nick sends him off to the bath with a towel and the bag Louis brought that apparently holds changes of clothes, he settles onto the sofa and alternates replying to texts with looking over to remind himself how adorable his babies and their new hedgehog friend are.

He's taking yet another picture of them when Liam comes back and looks over his shoulder. "Adorable."

"What do you think they'd get if I sent them to WeRateDogs?"

"Thirteen out of ten, easily." Liam sits next to Nick.

"At least." Nick puts his phone down and turns to Liam. "You've seen my babies. Do you have pictures of Bear?"

Liam pulls out his phone. "Loads."

He has picture after picture, and there's video too, of Bear making faces or dancing to Liam's music. Nick is so engrossed in it that he doesn't notice the hedgehog crossing the room until Louis starts trying to climb up his leg.

Nick leans over to pick him up. "Are you feeling left out? Don't worry. We think you're cute too." He cuddles Louis to his chest while Liam continues scrolling through photos and videos of Bear.

After a while longer, Liam reaches over for Louis. "Get changed and you can show him those pictures of Freddie you showed me earlier."

Louis makes a bit of a grumbly noise, but doesn't try to stop Liam from taking him and his bag out of the room so he can change.

When they come back, Louis settles down at Nick's side, cuddled up to him almost as much as he was as a hedgehog. Nick slings an arm around his shoulders and looks at picture after picture of Freddie and hopes no one tries to make him decide whether Freddie or Bear is cuter because they're both so adorable that there's no possible way to choose.

Louis makes Liam be the one to get up and answer the door when they order pizza for their tea, and after they eat, Louis tugs Liam down to sit close on his other side and drapes his legs over Liam's.

Nick squeezes Louis's shoulders. "Cuddly little thing, aren't you?"

Louis elbows him and nicks the remote, but doesn't move for the rest of the evening.

*

The woman on Nick's doorstep is only somewhat familiar. Or maybe it's just that he knows a lot of women her type. Either way, he can't put a name to her. That is, until a familiar hedgehog pokes his head out of a pocket of her purse.

"Hiya, Eleanor," he says, hoping he hasn't got it wrong.

"Hi." She smiles. "Sorry to drop in unannounced, but someone," she lifts the arm her handbag is hanging from, "insisted that you have the best hoodie for napping in."

Nick barks out a laugh, and then winces at the noise and waves Eleanor in. "I'm a bit hungover. Got on the wines last night."

Eleanor's smile drops, making it clear how much effort she was putting into it. "Us too, but beer."

Nick waves her into the lounge. "I'll make more tea." He looks at Louis, who has climbed halfway out of Eleanor's bag. "And put on my hoodie."

He starts the kettle, goes upstairs as quickly as he can with his hangover to grab the hoodie, and makes cups of tea for himself and Eleanor.

"I see you met the dogs," Nick says. They're sitting at Eleanor's feet, tongues lolling as she scratches behind their ears.

"They're good dogs," Eleanor croons. "Aren't you? Aren't you?"

"That one's Stinky Blob," Nick says when Stinky stays with Eleanor and Pig comes over to put her feet up on his knees. "And this one is Pig." He rubs her ears for a moment before Louis makes a grumbly noise from where he's still in Eleanor's handbag on the table on her other side.

"We haven't forgotten about you," Nick says. He stands up to go around Eleanor and Stinky to scoop Louis up, a task that's made considerably easier by the way Louis all but falls out of Eleanor's bag and into Nick's hands.

"Come on, then." Nick sits down, arranges his hoodie so it'll be comfortable for both of them, and tucks Louis into the pocket.

Louis pokes his head out for a moment, looking over the sewn up bottom of the pocket at Eleanor.

Eleanor rubs his face affectionately, and tugs gently at the edge of the pocket as he burrows back into it. "Clever."

"Thought it best to keep him from falling out." Nick pats the lump of hedgehog in his pocket. "Wouldn't want to do irreparable damage to an international popstar."

Eleanor nods, and Nick recognizes the faux serious look on her face as one he's seen Louis give people. "Right, nothing to do with the fact that he's your friend now."

"Course not," Nick says. He gestures at the telly. "Bake Off alright?"

Eleanor picks up her tea and pats her lap to encourage Stinky onto it. "Bake Off, tea, and dogs sounds like a lovely way to spend a hangover."

Those are Nick's sentiments exactly, so he settles back into comfortable silence with his tea.

Nick really, genuinely tries to be a good host when he has guests, but sometimes he fails, like this particular afternoon when he falls asleep with Bake Off on the telly, a popstar in his pocket, and a woman he barely knows stroking his dog.

He wakes up to an alarm is going off. It gets louder as he opens his eyes, because, he can see when he blinks himself all the way awake, it's coming from a phone Eleanor takes out of her bag.

She silences it and leans toward Nick's pocket. "Louis, babe. Time to get changed."

Nick carefully reaches into his pocket and pulls out a hedgehog who is none too pleased to be woken up.

"Come on," Eleanor says. "It's almost time to talk to Freddie."

Louis becomes visibly less irritated at that, and easily goes from Nick's hands to Eleanor's.

Nick, used to the routine by now, directs her to the loo. There is, it turns out, a change in the routine this time: Eleanor stays with Louis and they come back holding hands. It's almost as adorable as Louis the hedgehog curled up with Nick's dogs, and Nick holds his phone up and takes a picture without thinking.

He thinks after he does it. "That okay? Not for Instagram, or anything. Just for me."

Louis waves away his concern. "Yeah, lad, no worries." He plucks his phone out of Eleanor's bag and sits between her and Nick on the sofa. "Want to meet Freddie?"

Nick does, and they all get in close before Louis opens FaceTime.

When it connects, a toddler waves a little hand at them. "Hi Dad!"

"Hiya lad." Louis's smile is big enough to be seen even in the tiny box showing the three of them squished together at the bottom of the screen.

"Hi El'nor!"

Eleanor's smile isn't quite so wide, but she does look pleased. "Hi kiddo."

Freddie points at what must be Nick's face on the screen. "Who's that?"

Louis slings an arm over Nick's shoulders. "This is our friend Nick."

Freddie frowns for a moment, then says, "With the dogs!"

Louis laughs. "Yeah, with the dogs."

Eleanor pats her lap. "Stinky, come here."

Stinky jumps up on her lap, and Louis angles his phone to get Stinky in frame.

Nick can't see the screen very well now, but he can hear Freddie saying, "Stinky, Stinky, hi!"

Stinky lifts his head toward the screen and gives his best doggy smile, which makes Freddie laugh.

Never one to be left out, Pig climbs up on Nick's lap and noses her way under Louis's arm.

Louis moves his phone. "Think Pig wants to say hi to you too."

"Hi Pig." Freddie does that little toddler wave of scrunching up his hand again.

Freddie has to talk to both dogs for a bit, and then he tells them about a dog he saw at the park, and one he saw outside a store, and one who lives down the street.

They all talk about dogs for a bit, and then Nick pats Louis's knee and goes to the kitchen to make some more tea and give him some time with just his family.

He's a bit surprised when Eleanor joins him in the kitchen, but he pours tea for her without saying anything about it.

"I can't believe he remembers Pig and Stinky. It was ages ago that Louis last called him from here and he's only three or summat."

"Not quite three," Eleanor says, "and he never forgets a dog." She seems fond of Freddie, if not outright adoring like Louis.

"How's the whole," Nick makes a gesture, "stepmom thing?" Then he rubs a hand over his face. "Or ignore me if I shouldn't ask that. I'm still hungover."

Eleanor makes the same sort of dismissive gesture Louis did when he waved away Nick's concern about taking their photo. "It's alright. Was a bit weird at first, and, like, it took some time to work things out with Freddie's mum." She shrugs. "I don't really do much, you know? Louis does all the parenting stuff when we're in LA."

"Involved father," Nick says, "dead useful for the future." Then he slaps a hand over his face. "God, ignore me. I need to stop talking."

Eleanor laughs. "No worries, lad. Probably will be useful. In the future." She pulls out her phone, saving him from shoving his foot even farther into his mouth. "How do you feel about getting a McDonald's? Good for our hangovers, and Louis would eat it every day if he could." She looks up at Nick, amused tilt to her lips. "He was dead impressed with your apple pie trick."

Nick pulls out his own phone. "I love a McDonald's when I'm hungover. I can get it."

Eleanor puts her hand over his phone. "No, don't worry about it." She smirks. "If it makes you feel better, he's paying for it."

Nick puts his phone away. "I never turn down a popstar who's willing to buy me dinner."

Eleanor grins at him, and they Deliveroo a truly massive amount of McDonald's, complete with more apple pies than they think they need and a special instruction to make sure two of them go in each bag of food.

Louis comes into the kitchen just after they've sent in their order and drapes himself over Eleanor's shoulders. She turns her head toward him and they exchange a familiar, brief kiss.

"We having McDonald's for tea then?"

Eleanor covers Louis's hand with hers. "We're all hungover, so yes." She kisses his cheek. They're disgustingly adorable.

"You're disgustingly adorable," Nick says.

They both beam at him.

"I know," Louis says. "Isn't it great?"

"When are you going to find someone to be disgustingly adorable with?" Eleanor asks. She seems so nice, but Nick is absolutely sure that's payback for his questions earlier. The gleam in her eye backs up that interpretation.

"Oh God," Nick says. "I liked you better when you were playing with my dogs and sleeping on my sofa."

Eleanor laughs, loud and delighted.

Louis grins at both of them, and reaches out to pat Nick's arm. "Nah, mate, you love us." He puts his cheek right up against Eleanor's. "How could you not?"

It's an unanswerable question.

*

Given the trend of unannounced visitors on Nick's doorstep of late, he's unsurprised to open his door to Louis and Niall.

"We brought cake," Niall says cheerfully. He is, indeed, holding a bakery box.

"I never refuse cake." Nick lets them in, and they take turns holding the bakery box so they can hug him. Nick's used to Louis's hugs now, the way they're a strong, close cuddle. Niall's well good at hugs too, different from Louis but with the same affectionate energy.

Louis hands the bakery box off to Nick after the hugs so he has both hands free to greet the dogs and introduce them to Niall.

"This is my mate Niall," Louis says to the dogs. "He's a good lad. You'll like him."

Niall lets the dogs smell him before he starts stroking them. "You're good, friendly dogs, aren't ya?"

"Anyone for cake?" Nick offers.

The dogs and popstars trail him to the kitchen where he turns on the kettle, cuts three thick slices of cake for the humans, and gives each of the dogs a treat in a bid to keep them from trying to eat the cake.

Nick is expecting it now when they take their cake and tea through to the lounge and Louis sits down right next to him and pulls Niall down close on his other side.

"Dunno how I ever thought you were prickly," Nick says, "the way you act now."

Louis shrugs at him. "Didn't really know you then, did I?"

Nick throws an arm around Louis's shoulders and pulls him close. "Are we bffs now, Louis?"

Louis's laugh borders on a giggle, and he pushes at Nick without putting enough effort into it to keep Nick from pulling him in and smacking a kiss to the top of his head.

"Why are you torturing me?" Louis says through his laughter. "Niall's the one constantly trolling you."

Nick lets go of him. "He's too far away. Eat your cake."

"I'm not trolling," Niall says. "It's called having a conversation."

"If you were anyone else," Nick says archly, "I'd call it sliding into my DMs."

"Niall," Louis says with a gasp, "have you been flirting with Nick? Does Hailee know?"

Niall laughs. "Hailee knows everything she needs to." He elbows Louis. "Eat your cake."

"Never had so many people telling me to eat cake," Louis says. He sticks a bite of cake in his mouth.

"It's good cake," Nick points out. "It should be appreciated."

"Niall always knows the best places to get food."

Nick taps his fork against his teeth. "I didn't know that. I think we've been having the wrong conversations."

"Too much about boys?" Louis asks with an obviously false innocence.

"Mostly about holidays, telly, and his show," Niall says. He looks across Louis at Nick. "Should we be talking about boys?"

"No." Nick quickly shoves a bite of cake into his mouth. Too quickly, probably, and he's turning bright red.

"Harry says differently," Louis says gleefully.

"Harry needs to keep his mouth shut," Nick mutters.

"You're blushing," Niall says with a laugh.

Louis, the traitor, also starts laughing.

Nick points his fork at them. "Both of you. Eat your cake."

"Sure," Louis says, "soon as you tell us about this boy." He pokes Nick with his elbow.

"Yeah," Niall says, "tell us about him."

Louis smirks. "Harry says he's a dancer."

"A dancer." Niall waggles his eyebrows. "Flexible, eh?"

Nick nearly chokes on a bite of cake. "Oh my God. Stop."

"Not going to stop until you tell us about him," Louis warns.

"Oh my God," Nick says again. "That's not- Like, he's well fit, but that's not, like, why." He puts a hand over his face, which he can feel turning completely red.

"You really like him," Louis says.

"Yes," Nick says from behind his hand.

"Tell us about him," Niall says. He and Louis both take bites of their cake, giving Nick matching expectant looks.

"I don't know!" Nick flails a bit. "He's fun. We have a laugh, but he's good to talk to too. And he likes me, and he's really nice."

Louis gives him a soft look. "That's good, mate. You deserve someone like that."

He knows Louis well enough now that the softness shouldn't be a surprise, but somehow it still is. Nick leans into Louis's side. "Thanks."

Louis needles Niall a bit, then, the two of them laughing together while they eat their cake and drink their tea. Louis finishes first and puts his plate and cup down on the coffee table. Then he disappears, and a hedgehog noses its way out of a pile of clothes on the sofa and climbs across them toward Nick.

"You still haven't learned to do this without leaving your clothes everywhere," Niall says.

Nick scoops Louis out of the pile of clothing and sets him on his lap. "He leaves a pile of them every time he changes here." He rubs gently at Louis's face. "Didn't know it was a habit."

Louis makes a noise Nick chooses to interpret as friendly and puts his little front feet on Nick's shirt like he's trying to climb up him.

"You want a bit of a cuddle?" Nick picks Louis up, slouches down so Louis won't fall off of him, and tucks him against his chest under his shirt.

"This one'll leave a mess everywhere if you let him." Niall briskly shakes Louis's clothes out and folds them into a neat pile. "Total slob."

Louis makes a noise that could be a protest or an agreement. Nick pats the lump of him under his shirt gently and takes another bite of his cake.

Niall moves into the space Louis left behind, not quite so close to Nick, but close enough. "Tell me what you've been listening to lately."

That's always a conversation Nick wants to have, and they spend a couple of hours talking about music while Louis naps on Nick's chest until he demands to be given privacy to change back so he can join in the conversation.

When they leave, Louis hugs Nick for a bit longer than Niall does and kisses the side of his head. "Glad you're happy, lad." He pulls away and grins. "Going to have to meet that boy of yours sometime soon."

Nick pushes him away with a laugh. "Oh my God, get out of my house."

They both hug him one more time before they leave. Once they're gone, Nick sends Harry a picture of the leftover cake. _Thanks for making me friends with a hedgehog._

Harry sends him back the thumbs-up emoji. _I just brought him to you. You made friends all on your own._

*

While Nick has become used to having popstars just pop round for a visit, he's still surprised about just which popstars are on his doorstep. Louis he expects; Zayn he doesn't.

Nick lets them in and reaches out to Louis for a hug. "Hiya."

"Thought we'd come round and play with your dogs," Louis says. "Let Eleanor have a break from us."

Nick holds out a hand to Zayn, who takes it and then comes in for a half-hug. "Hey."

"Hi," Nick says. "I'll put the kettle on while Louis introduces you to the dogs."

Said dogs are milling around at their feet, Pig trying to climb up Louis. Nick leaves them to it and makes tea. He brings out a package of biscuits with it.

The popstars and dogs take up all the space on the sofa, forcing Nick onto one of the chairs. Zayn is smiling more than Nick has ever seen him, eyes crinkling up as he coos at Pig.

Nick lets out a dramatic sigh. "I can't believe you're only using me for my dogs."

"Yeah, mate," Louis says without looking up from where he's rubbing behind Stinky's ears. "Only reason I come here." He looks up and flashes Nick a quick grin. "They're good dogs."

"They are," Zayn croons at Pig. "Aren't you, girl? Yeah, you're a good dog."

"They're great dogs," Louis says. "Don't even mind having a hedgehog around."

Zayn's head snaps up, and he looks at Louis, and then at Nick. "Yeah?"

Nick gets the sense that there's something important going on here and keeps his mouth shut, no matter how much it pains him.

"Yeah," Louis says. He pushes back his fringe with one hand, then reaches for his tea. "FaceTimed Freddie with them a couple of times. He likes them."

Nick watches him drink of his tea without looking at Zayn while Zayn watches him, both of them absently petting the dogs.

Zayn sits up and pulls a lighter out of his pocket. "Need a smoke."

"Outside," Nick says apologetically.

Zayn considers Nick and Louis, then pulls a joint out of his pocket. "Cool?"

Getting high with a pair of popstars was not in Nick's diary for the day, but he's not opposed. "Cool."

Zayn nudges Louis's knee. "You in, bro? Like old times."

A smile slowly stretches across Louis's face as he looks up. "Yeah, I'm in." He stands and throws his arm around Zayn's shoulders. He has to go up on his toes to do it. Nick resists the urge to take a picture.

The three of them and the dogs go out into the garden. It's cold for it, but Pig and Stinky run around a bit despite the temperature while Zayn lights up the joint.

Nick has a pair of chairs in the garden; he takes one, and Zayn and Louis share the other. They pass the joint back and forth, and Nick relaxes into his chair while he watches the popstars do the same in theirs.

"Used to do this a lot," Zayn says. He puts his arm across Louis's stomach, rests his chin on Louis's shoulder.

Louis smiles and tilts his head to blow the smoke away from them. "Missed it."

Zayn sighs. "Me too."

They seem very settled and cozy, but there's only so long Nick can go without attention. "I'm disappointed you never invited me to partake with you before."

Louis's eyes crinkle up with a slow smile. "Told you. Didn't really know you before."

"Would have been a good way to get to know the rest of you." Nick takes a deep drag from the joint. "Plus, you've got really good weed."

Zayn laughs, more of a giggle than anything else. "We didn't always." He nudges Louis. "Remember that time."

Louis collapses into laughter. "Yeah, yeah. God, that was terrible."

Nick isn't in on the joke, but he laughs too, and his laughter brings the dogs to him. He hands off the joint and focuses on stroking the dogs, who love it and jump up onto the chair with him.

They go inside once they've finished off the joint, a riot of popstars and dogs and Nick laughing and running into each other and ransacking the kitchen for munchies.

They end up on Nick's sofa, all three of them and the dogs crammed together with crisps and biscuits and tea, Bake Off on the telly.

"Dunno how this is supposed to make the munchies better," Louis says. He has his head on Zayn's shoulder and his legs thrown over Nick's.

"Not supposed to," Nick says. "But it's even better stoned."

They watch three episodes and demolish two bags of crisps and a packet of biscuits before Louis sits up and says that he and Zayn have to leave.

"Don't want to," Zayn mumbles, half-asleep on Nick's sofa.

"Don't care," Louis says. "Eleanor's expecting us."

Zayn grumbles, and then stretches when he stands up. He's well fit, and Nick doesn't mind in the slightest having him in his house to look at.

Louis catches him at it and raises his eyebrows. "What would that boy of yours think if he saw you now?"

Nick turns red. "Shove off."

"Boy?" Zayn asks.

"Yeah," Louis says. "Hasn't let any of us meet him yet, but I've heard some things."

"Harold needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," Nick says before he considers that maybe mentioning Harry around Zayn isn't such a good idea.

Zayn's smile does in fact dim.

Louis ignores it and pulls Nick into a tight hug. "You need to tell me more so I don't have to hear it all from Harry."

He gets a lighter hug from Zayn, who says, "Thanks."

"Oh, thank _you_ ," Nick says. "I haven't been this high in ages. I'd forgotten how it feels."

That brings a grin to Zayn's face. "I'll bring more next time."

The dogs go with Nick to see them out, and he looks down at them once the door is closed behind Louis and Zayn. "Did you think we'd have all of One Direction in our house? No, me either."

*

The text Louis sent inviting Nick over specifically said, _Bring your dogs and your boy,_ which is why Nick is at the door of an outrageously large house with Pig and Stinky's leash clutched tightly in one hand and Mesh's arm brushing his.

Louis opens the door with a bright smile. "Nick!" He tugs Nick in for a hug. "Good to see you, lad." Then he crouches down and lets the dogs lick over his face. "Hi. Hi. Yeah, it's good to see you too." He stands and holds out a hand to Mesh. "Hi. I'm Louis."

"Mesh. I'm with this one."

They shake hands, and Louis gestures them in. "Everyone's through here. Drinks too." He waits for them to hang up their coats, but stops Nick from unleashing the dogs. "Might want to wait to introduce them to Bruce and Clifford first."

They go through to the lounge, where there are a lot more people than Nick was expecting. He was expecting Eleanor and maybe Harry. They are both there, but so are Liam, Niall, Hailee Steinfeld, Zayn, and both Gigi and Bella Hadid. Eleanor has a pair of dogs leaning against her who perk up and rush over when they see Louis, Pig, and Stinky.

Louis grabs for their collars and he and Nick watch carefully while the four dogs get to know each other. It seems to go well, so Nick unclips Pig and Stinky's leashes and lets them decide what they want to do. Stinky makes for Harry; Pig turns and puts her paws up on Nick's legs.

Nick chuckles and strokes her head. "It's all right, baby. You know I love you most." He looks up at the rest of the room where every conversation has stopped to greet either him or the dogs. He pulls Mesh forward with an arm around his shoulders. "This is Mesh." He waves at the room. "This is a few friends, some acquaintances, and some people I don't particularly know."

Louis shakes his head at Nick's description. "Drinks?"

While Louis gets them drinks, Harry hugs Nick and greets Mesh with a warmth that makes Nick glad he's the first one to talk to them.

They make the rounds of the room while the dogs run around getting stroked and patted by everyone in the room.

Liam seems confused by Mesh's very existence, but he claps Nick's back in an unsatisfactory hug and shakes Mesh's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Niall's warmer, and there's a shuffling of introductions with Mesh and Hailee that ends in all of them laughing, because that's the way things go with Niall.

Zayn is cooler, of course, and the Hadids cautious. Nick looks between the three of them and Mesh and says, "My God, we can't stay with you. I don't have the cheekbones for this crowd. Look at all of you."

Mesh rubs a finger over Nick's cheek. "I like your cheekbones."

Nick knows he's turning red, and it's only confirmed when Eleanor joins them and says, "You're blushing." She smiles at him over the rim of her glass. "Glad to see you found someone to be disgustingly adorable with."

Nick covers his face with his hand. "Oh God, why are you torturing me? I apologized!"

Eleanor smiles placidly at him and pats his shoulder. "We just want you to be happy, lad."

Louis joins them, arm wrapping around Eleanor's shoulders. "Tell us about yourself," he says to Mesh.

"Oh, you know, basic gay boy just trying to make it in London," Mesh says.

"He's being modest," Nick says. "He's a dancer. A great one." He looks at Mesh, and he's probably going all gooey about it. "Going to have an amazing career at it."

Harry wanders over to them, and there's an instant increase in tension. Nick glances around, but everyone else seems determined to pretend it's normal, even though Harry and Zayn are looking anywhere but at each other.

"Do you have video?" Harry asks Mesh. "I don't know anything about dance."

Mesh pulls out his phone and pulls up a video Nick's seen before but leans his chin on Mesh's shoulder to watch again. Mesh dancing shows off his muscles and the beauty of his movements, and Nick isn't sorry to get to show him off like this.

"That's amazing," Harry says, focusing his attention on Mesh while Mesh passes the phone on to Zayn so he and the Hadids can watch it.

"Thank you," Mesh says. He shifts toward Nick just a little bit.

Nick puts his arm around Mesh's waist. "He works very hard to be that good."

"It shows," Zayn says. He hands the phone off to Eleanor.

Louis crowds close, one arm around Eleanor, to watch it with her. His eyebrows go up, and when Eleanor hands the phone back, he says, "I know even less about dance than that one," he nods at Harry, "but that was brilliant."

"That must take a lot of training," Eleanor says.

Nick and Mesh switch places so Mesh can talk to Eleanor about dancing and Nick can catch up with Harry. It goes like that for most of the evening, Nick and Mesh separating and coming back together again, the dogs roam around getting stroked and given treats by anyone they can get them from.

Louis catches up with Nick in the kitchen later, and throws an arm around his shoulders. "Mate, your boy is a good one."

Nick tries, but can't hold in his smile.

"Look at you, lad," Louis says delightedly. He pulls Nick in and kisses the side of his head.

Nick rubs a hand over his no doubt red face. "I'm buying hedgehog outfits and putting them on you next time you come to mine."

"Oh, fuck you," Louis says with a laugh. He pokes Nick's cheek. "It's good he's making you happy. He keeps that up and he might get to meet your favorite hedgehog."

Nick knows how much a show of trust that is coming from Louis, and he's genuinely touched. He squeezes Louis's shoulder, then says, "Who says you're my favorite hedgehog?"

Louis bursts out laughing. "Fuck off."

Nick starts laughing too, and they stand there laughing at each other for a minute until Eleanor and Mesh come to find them. Louis settles down from laughing to just grinning and holds a hand out to Eleanor. She takes it and they're basically the cutest thing standing there in the kitchen holding hands and smiling.

"You're disgustingly adorable," Nick tells them.

They shrug, unconcerned, and Eleanor says, "So are you," which is definitely true since Nick's put his arm around Mesh and they're pressed close together.

"You know," Nick says, because he's delighted by them, "I'm glad Harry brought you to mine."

Louis smiles at him with his lips pressed together and his eyes all crinkly. "Me too, lad."


End file.
